PLANTS GROWING IN MUD. 57 



AMERICAN CRANBERRY. (Plate XXII.) 

 Oxycdccus macroccirpus. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Heath. Pale rose. Scentless. North Carolina* northward. June. 



Flozvers : terminal ; nodding on long pedicels that are sometimes axillary. 

 Calyx : of four short teeth. Corolla : of four deeply parted petals. Stamens : 

 eight to ten; protruding. Pistil: one. Fruit: a bright scarlet, acid, four- 

 celled berry. Leaves : oblong ; entire ; evergreen ; the margins turned back. 

 Stem : prostrate ; trailing. 



So dainty and pretty is the little pink blossom of this plant 

 that it invariably gives pleasure to those that find it in the peat 

 bogs and marshy lands. Its mission in life, however, is to be 

 the forerunner of the bright berry which is too well-known in 

 connection with Thanksgiving turkey to need any description. 

 The name cranberry is said by some authorities to have been 

 chosen for the plant because the berries are the favourite food 

 of the cranes, when they return in the spring to the shores of 

 Holland. Others think it is owing to the curves of the 

 branches, which are like the crooked neck of a crane. 



MARSH ANDROMEDA. WILD ROSEflARY. MARSH 

 HOLY ROSE. 



Andrdmeda polifblia. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Heath. White, or pink tinged with red. Fragrant. Mostly north. May, June. 



Flcnuers : growing in umbel-like, drooping clusters. Calyx : of five sepals. 



Corolla : of five petals. Stamens : ten. Pistil : one. Leaves : lanceolate : 



glaucous; whitish beneath; evergreen. A low shrub, rarely taller than 

 eighteen inches. 



This beautiful shrub is the namesake of the fair daughter of 

 the Ethiopian King, Cepheus. Perhaps the bond of sympathy 

 that Linnaeus recognised as existing between them, is that they 

 both have had to contend with monsters. Like Andromeda of 

 spotless purity, who was chained to the rock at sea, our little 

 plant finds itself attached to some hillock in the swamp. The 

 jumping, splashing frogs and sleek, twirling reptiles are no 

 doubt quite as fearful to the gentle flower as the fiery dragon 



